Stone on the Founders on Religion

Chicago law prof Geoff Stone bashes Mitt Romney (and others) for espousing a "disturbingly distorted version of history" suggesting that the Founders intended "to create a Christian Nation."  He then proceeds through the familiar litany of quotes from Franklin, Jefferson, and Paine showing that they were not Christians.  I'm no historian, but a couple of Stone's assertions grabbed my attention.  Is he on solid ground, for example, in claiming that "most of the Founders" viewed "religious passion as irrational and dangerously divisive?"  And it strikes me as a bit of a stretch to make the sweeping claim that "the Founders" "understood that religion was fundamentally a private and personal matter."  And then there's Stone's conclusion:

[The Founders] would have been appalled at the idea of the federal government sponsoring “faith-based” initiatives. They would have been quite happy to tolerate Mitt Romney’s Mormonism – as long as he keeps  it out of our government.

Is there some evidence of which I'm unaware suggesting that the Founders would have been "appalled" by the notion that religious organizations should be eligible to compete with non-religious organizations to provide government-funded social services?  Or that private citizens should be able to direct government funds to a social services provider of their own choosing, even if the provider is religious?  Does a dispassionate reading of history really suggest that "toleration" of a strictly private faith best captures the Founders' vision of the relationship between faith and public life?

I agree with Stone that proponents of the "Christian nation" tend to selectively quote Founders in a way that supports their own social/political/legal agendas.  Proponents of the "secular nation," it seems, tend to do the same thing.